Maxine Peak confirms new TV project with Alma's Not Normal creator Sophie Willan
Former 'Shameless' star Maxine Peak has teamed up with 'Alma’s Not Normal' creator Sophie Willan to write a new TV show, a satire of the Pendle witch trials.
Maxine Peak has teamed up with 'Alma’s Not Normal' creator Sophie Willan to write a new TV show.
The acclaimed actress - famous for her performances in 'dinnerladies', 'Shameless' and 'See No Evil: The Moors Murders' - is currently writing with Sophie, who has been lauded for her comedy series in which she plays aspiring working class actress Alma Nuthall who is dealing with a break-up and career woes.
The series is a satire about the Pendle witch trials of 1612, which resulted in nine women and two men from the area of Pendle Hill in Lancashire tried as witches, with six of the accused coming from just two families.
Appearing on 'The Proper Class Podcast', Maxine spilled: “I’m writing at the moment with a proper working class hero, Sophie Willan. I feel blessed. I’m just watching the second series of 'Alma’s Not Normal', I love it. She’s amazing and she’s just a joy to watch.
“Sophie, you can see she’s got drama bones in her. She’s an actress. She always goes, ‘I’m a comedy actress.’ I say, ‘No you’re not, you’re an actress. You’re an actress who can do comedy.’ I don’t like this labelling of comedy actress. If you’re truthful to the piece then you will be whatever the piece requires.”
Maxine has taken it upon herself to write her own TV series because now she’s hit 50 she is worried that the job offers will dry up and she doesn’t want to waste the remaining years of her career waiting for roles that interest her.
She said: “I’ve been really blessed with my career, but I’m 50 now. People used to say it starts drying up at 40 but I think now I’ve hit 50 this is wobble time. This might be time when I might have to start looking at other things.
“There’s not a lot being made, that’s what it feels like at the moment. That’s the excuse that I’m giving myself because I’m not getting anything!”
